The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has deployed two CubeSats from the International Space Station under a flight demonstration and test initiative. The CubeSats were launched from the orbital laboratory via a NanoRacks CubeSat platform as part of the CubeSat Assessment and Test mission, APL said Wednesday.

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The first GPS III satellite that Lockheed Martin built for the U.S. Air Force took off Sunday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. GPS III Space Vehicle 01 established communications with the defense contractor’s launch-and-checkout facility in Denver nearly two hours after launch, Lockheed said Sunday. “In the coming days, GPS […] More

NASA has announced that a reusable, multi-mission orbital vehicle by Sierra Nevada Corp. is now ready for full-scale manufacturing and testing after passing an integration review validating its design performance. The company said Tuesday it has already started integrating critical parts of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, including major structural components, thermal protection system tiles and […] More

Rocket Lab launched 10 cubesats into space on Sunday morning as part of its Venture Class Launch Services agreement with NASA. The company said Sunday its Electron rocket lifted off with the small research satellites at 1:33 a.m. Eastern time in Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. Three NASA centers, one middle school and seven universities built the cubesats through the Educational […] More

KBR’s government services arm has earned NASA’s nod as one of 13 contract awardees who will conduct research on potential commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit. The contract tasks KBRwyle to develop strategies on how to provide affordable LEO-related technology and encourage commercial and government use of systems designed for LEO, KBR said Monday. The company is additionally […] More

Seattle-based aerospace company Spaceflight aims to send 71 satellites into sun-synchronous low earth orbit aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket as part of a rideshare mission later this year. The mission, dubbed SSO-A: SmallSat Express, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base and carry a payload of 15 microsatellites and 56 CubeSats developed by multiple domestic and international […] More

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft docked at the International Space Station tested on Tuesday its reboost capability through a 50-second engine firing activity, Spaceflight Now reported Wednesday. Ground controllers at Northrop’s Dulles, Va.-based mission operations facility transmitted commands to the spacecraft to fire its IHI Aerospace-supplied BT-4 main engine, which generated approximately 100 pounds of thrust […] More

An Orbital ATK spacecraft has completed berthing maneuvers with the International Space Station as part of the company’s ninth resupply mission with NASA. The company said Thursday the Cygnus spacecraft dubbed “S.S. J.R. Thompson” carried 7,400 pounds of cargo consisting of supplies and experiments to ISS. The spacecraft launched Monday from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia aboard an Antares rocket. ISS crew secured the […] More

An Orbital ATK spacecraft took off Monday aboard the company’s Antares rocket to deliver approximately 7,400 pounds of experiments and crew supplies to the International Space Station. The launch of the Orbital ATK-built Cygnus spacecraft designated S.S. J.R. Thompson from NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia serves as the company’s ninth cargo delivery mission to the orbiting laboratory under the […] More

Orbital ATK has set May 20 as target date to launch its ninth cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station as part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The space agency said Monday Orbital ATK moved Cygnus from a payload processing facility to a spacecraft fueling facility Monday at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. After […] More

Orbital ATK will establish a new 47-acre campus in Chandler, Arizona to accommodate the expansion of the company’s launch vehicle operations. The new campus will include 617,000 square feet of space for two buildings as well as 261,000 square feet for manufacturing, Orbital ATK said Friday. Rich Straka, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK’s launch vehicles division, […] More

Orbital ATK plans to use its Cygnus spacecraft to perform two cargo delivery missions this year to the International Space Station under the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, NASASpaceflight.com reported Friday. The ninth ISS cargo supply mission, dubbed OA-9, is set to take off in May aboard the Orbital ATK-built Antares rocket from […] More